SUMMARY Suppose that you have the volumes on the left and right channels unbalanced (e.g. you see two cursor bars one at 10% on left, one 50% on right). You press the balance button. Those two bars turn into one. You expect the volumes for both channels to be the same now, but they remain unbalanced. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Open the sound system settings 2. Adjust volume for the two channels so that they are unbalanced 3. Press balance OBSERVED RESULT You see the two controls for the left and right channel turning into one, but the unbalance remains (check with sound reproduction). EXPECTED RESULT The two channels should be set at the same volume. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Operating System: Manjaro Linux KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.4 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.1.0 Qt Version: 6.7.0 Kernel Version: 6.8.9-3-MANJARO (64-bit) Graphics Platform: Wayland Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS with Radeon Graphics Memory: 30.6 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Product Name: ROG Zephyrus G14 GA402RK_GA402RK System Version: 1.0 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This might be a regression in plasma 6
"Balance" is a toggle button that shows you the balance settings. It isn't saying "press me to balance the channels". Maybe we have to make the button text clearer or use a different UI element.
That clarifies, however I still think that the UI (and its discoverability) could be improved. If for some reason you get with the volumes unbalanced (not necessarily because you messed with them, in some occasions I had the hardware coming up with this after a boot), you do not see that. Probably, the channels should always be shown independently when they are not equalized. In addition to that, even if I am not a native speaker, I get the impression that the word "balance" is perceived as implying an even distribution and might get interpreted as a verb "do achieve an even distribution". May I suggest renaming "balance" as "show channels" and possibly when the individual channels are shown add an equalize button under the mute one? and you see a "balance" button you might interpret it as a verb (do balance the buttons). I am not a native speaker, so I may be wrong, though. May I suggest that the "balance" button is renamed "show channels" or just channels and that possibly a "balance channels" button is added?
A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-pa/-/merge_requests/260
Git commit ced81b868c429b831116d598880feca064a8317a by Nate Graham. Committed on 08/06/2024 at 02:30. Pushed by ngraham into branch 'master'. KCM: rename "Balance" button for clarity In English this word could be read as a noun ("see the balance") or an imperative verb ("balance the things"). Let's clarify this by changing the text to indicate what the button will actually do: show the audio channels so you can adjust them. FIXED-IN: 6.2 M +6 -6 src/kcm/ui/DeviceListItem.qml https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-pa/-/commit/ced81b868c429b831116d598880feca064a8317a